Dough divider



April 1936- L. s. HARBER ET AL 2,038,733 1 DOUGH DIVIDER 2 Shepts-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 16, 1955 iiiozwzey L. s. HARBER ET AL DOUGH DIVIDER Filed Feb. 16, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 28, 1936 UNITED STATES DOUGH DIVIDERT Laurence Seymour Barber and John Edward Pointon, Peterborough, England, assignors to Baker Perkins Company, Ino., Saginaw, Mich.,

a corporation of New York Application February 16, 1935, Serial No. 6,767

. In Great Britain March 9, 1934s 7 Claims.

This invention relates to dough dividers of the type employing a cut-off knife and a charging ram.

Its objects and the mode of accomplishing them 5 are, to divide dough with a'high degree of accuracy as to weight, even though the machine may employ a large number of. measuring chambers; to provide an air seal between the ram chamber and the marginal areas of the dough mass in the feed hopper; to reduce felling action on the dough by providing a ram arrangement such that while charging the measuring chambers the rain shall reduce the cubical capacity of its chamber to a minimum thus leaving very little dough which is subjected to. the pressure of more than one ram stroke.

A further object is to avoid either a dead. sue

tion effect ora tendency to draw dough from the hopper through a narrow opening. This object is attained by providing means for moving. the ram and knife forward for a charging stroke simultaneously, the ram face being in substantial register with the knife edge for a substantial proportion of a stroke (for example in excess of half the stroke), arresting (or substantially arresting) the ram while the knife proceeds'to cut off the dough, again moving the ram forward for charging the measuring chambers, allowing a rest period while the measuring chambers are discharged, and then retreating both ram and knife together in substantial register. The means for moving the ram and knife in such relationship includes a cam operating through a very flexible spring and preferably through an articulated F lever.

In the accompanying drawings, I

Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in section of a dough divider incorporating the stated improvements.

' Fig. 2 is an end elevation as viewed from the left-hand side of Fig. 1.

In carrying the invention into effect according to one convenient mode which will be described by way of example, instead of providing a hopper of the usual elongated rectangular form in plan, a hopper 2 of more or less square shape in plan is employed. The square form of hopper encourages the dough to take the shape thereof readily and to sink under gravity action so that uniform and reliable feed or extrusion into the ram chamber is effected.

The ram chamber is of corresponding shape in plan to that of the feed hopper and supplies the dough to two or more measuring chambers with 55 or without the aid'of a die plate.

A flange 4' projects inwardly; for' example, an inch or so from the lower extremity of the hopper where it adjoins the ram chamber 3. Instead of a flange the hopper may have an inwardly curved 60 lip in this region but in either case the formation is such as to enable the dough as it sinks in the hopper to make a complete contact around.

arranged on the forward side and the lateral sides only, it being important to obtain the air sealing effect particularly adjacent the measuring chambers. The sealing flanges on the lateral faces 5 may extend only along part of thewall, joining the flange on the forward face 6. The flanges may be formed integrally with the hopper walls or may be secured thereto in any convenient manner, and at any convenient height on the walls instead of in the position shown. The flange lip may be curved upwardly at its inner edge or may be provided with an upwardly extending bead. i A

A reciprocating dough cut-off knife 1 is provided immediately below the flange 4, and below the latter a reciprocating ram 8 is located. The forward face of the ram 8 is preferably bevelled to prevent the formation of a pocket and to, still further reduce the quantity of dough left in front of the ram at the end of its forward stroke, and to reduce the felling effect. Measuring chambers 9 are located at the forward side of the ram chamber with or without an intermediate die plate. It has been found that the divider will operate accurately with as many as six or more measuring chambers.

The ram operating means comprises a main lever IE! mounted on a horizontal axis andope'rated by a cam to be described hereinafter. At the upper end of the lever and between it and'the rear of the ram an articulated part in the form of a bell crank lever 'l I pivotally mounted on the main lever is provided. One endof the bell crank II is connected to the ram by a connecting rod l2 and the other end' is pivotally connected to a collar !3 slidably mounted on a rod M arranged substantially parallel with and behind the main lever. The lower end of the rod I4 is pivotally mounted on an extension l5 of the main ram lever.

A long very flexible spring I6 surrounds the rod l4 and is compressed a substantial distance compared to its free length. The lower. end of the spring abuts against a collar l1 fixed upon the rod. The spring [6 exerts substantially uniform pressure through the ram upon the dough.

A spring is selected which when substantially compressed affords a pressure of about 12 pounds per square inch onthe dough. The end ofthe" The inner perimeter of bell crank lever when the ram is operating, say,

upon two-pound dough pieces, causes the spring to be compressed very slightly further (compared with the original compression) whilst when operating upon one-pound pieces a still further compression occurs, but the total compression when operating between 1 and 2 pounds is relatively quite small compared to the original compression and results in only a very slight vane tion of pressures on the doughaccording to the weight of dough pieces being scaled.

, The main lever I0 has an arm extension iIOa at its lower end on which a'camroller I8is mounted in contact with aram-operating cam I9. This cam is provided with lobes of a contour appropriate to control the forward movements: of the ram 8 as indicated above and terminates or 'is cut away for a portion corresponding with the return stroke of the ram so that the cam I9 has "no influence upon the ram during this period. The knife 'I is actuated by a lever 29 (or pair of levers mounted one on either side of the ram lever) and controlled by a cam 2I engaging a roller 25on the lever in known manner to give is moved back into its initial position'bythe,

knife lever. 20.

In operation, according to the arrangement.

shown, cam I9 moves ram' 8 forward with the knife I for a substantial portion of the total stroke 7 while lever spring I6, operating through the bell crank lever II, exerts at this time a constant pressure of about 12 pounds per square inch. Some of the dough which has sunk into the ram ohamber3is pushed back into the hopperduring this portion of the stroke and tends to break up any large pockets of fermentation gases, which action assists in maintaining accuracy of scaling. On the completion of this part of the stroke cam I9 brings lever Ill and ram 8 to rest while knife 'I proceeds to cut off the dough remaining in the ram chamber from that in the hopper. Cam I9 then operates to complete the ram stroke,'the pressure exerted by the spring It being increased by about 1 or 2 pounds per square 7 inch, according to whether the measuring chambers are adjusted for one-pound'ortwo-pound dough pieces. Whenthe divider is'run empty without any compression of spring I6, the stroke terminates as far forward as the bevelled edge of ram 8 will conveniently permit in reference to the. position of the measuringchambers 9 or the die plate, if one is employed.

After the measuring chambers have been charged they move away todeliver the measured dough piecesiwhich fall on the conveyor 29) and then return to position. During that period' the knifeand ram are at rest, but the contour of the 'main cam'IS is such as to relieve the compression of the spring on the ram before the knife is drawn back, permitting the sliding collar I3 to come into contact with a fixed collar 24 on the rod and preventing any further'forward movement of the ram due to thepressure of the spring, thus leaving the main ram lever I 0 and its components atrest before being moved back by the knife cam 26. The knife cam 26' causes the knife to be drawn back (taking with it the ram through theengagement of the lug 22 aha stop 23) to the initial 'or starting position.

The simultaneous return of the knife and ram avoids dead suction effects being producedby the ram'and avoids the'ram operating to'suck the j dough 'downthrough a relatively small opening, (wire drawing) as the knife uncovers the dough such as would occur if the ram returned before the knife.

Having thus described ourinvention, what we claimand desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a divider having a ram chamber and a reciprocatable ram in said'chamber, in combination, a stationary hopper, a knife reciprocatable between the hopper and the ram, a flangeflange member defining the opening into the ram' chamber.

2. A dough divider having a dough feed hop- 7 per communicating with the 7 ram chamber, wherein the walls of the hopper adjoining the ram chamber are provided with an inwardly project ing flange adapted in conjunction with the dough V in the hopper to form an air seal. 3. A dough divider having a dough feed hopper, a reciprocatable knife and a ram,an actuating arm connected 'to said knife, an articulated armconnected to said ram and including aspring controlled pressure regulating device for limiting the maximum force exertable by the ram, 0am I means for oscillating each of said arms,said cam means being shaped and adapted to effect con tinuous forward movement of the knife and interrupted forward movement of the ram, a

portion of such forward movement occurring si'-' multaneously for a substantial distance of the total stroke, said cam means adapted tobring the ram to rest' while continuing the forward" movement 'of the knife to the end of its stroke and thereafter completing the ram stroke, said cam shaped to produce a rest period for both a knife and ram at the ends of their strokes, and.

mechanism associated with said ram means for effecting simultaneous return of the ram and the knife to their initial positions. 7 r

4. In a dough divider including a cut-off knif located above a charging ram, the combination of a cam-actuated knife lever and a ram actuating lever, said levers being arrangedand actuated in relatively timed relation, wherein the ram and knife move together for a substantial proportion of the charging stroke; and then the-ram dwells until the knife has cut off the dough from the hopper. V r

5. A dough divider as claimed in claim 4 wherein the charging stroke of the ram is effected by a cam operating through a spring device associated with an articulated lever and the return stroke of the ram is effected through the knifeactuating means.

7 LAURENCE SEYMOUR, HARBER.

7 JOHN EDWARD POINTON. 

